Bruce's Little Iron Boy
by allison221
Summary: The Avengers team plans a fun movie day. But Loki shows up to get his revenge. Mostly against the Hulk. When he tries to put a spell on Bruce, Tony steps in to protect his friend and gets hit by the spell instead, turning into a kid. While waiting for Thor to catch up with Loki, Bruce takes care of little Tony. Lots of adventures and fluffiness happen. References to child abuse.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters used in this story.**

 **I wrote this story a while ago (I think it might actually be a year old) after reading this amazing story called Sprout by** **Trumpeteer34, where Bruce turns into a kid and Tony takes care of him. I thought it would be a great idea to tell a story about Bruce taking care of Tony as a kid. I originally published the story on Deviant Art. Then today, I realized I should publish it here for more people to see, so I did a little editing, fixing it up a bit, and now here it is.**

 **In this story, the events take place in an alternate universe where anything can happen. Also in this story, Bruce is living with Tony in Stark Tower. Now let's get started.**

"Shit!"

"Careful, Tony. If Cap hears you, he might try to wash your mouth out with soap. I bet you 50 bucks that he'd actually do it. Think about it. Even if he does, you'll still be 50 dollars richer. I know how much you love your money. You probably won't even taste it."

Ignoring the archer's comment, Tony peers inside the refrigerator once again. "I don't see any beer in here at all! When was the last time I went to the store?"

"About four weeks ago," said Bruce, munching on a mix of popcorn, pretzels, and M&Ms.

"Slow down! There will not be any left for us to eat if you do not wait for the good captain!" Thor yelled, grabbing the snack bowl away from Bruce.

"Hey! I only took two handfuls! I wasn't going to eat all of it!" Bruce cried, trying to take the bowl back from the god. "I'm eating for two you know," he whined.

"Really?" Clint asked in a mocking tone. "Is it a boy or a girl? Are you going to have a C-section or are you going to do it vag-"

"You know what I meant!" yelled Bruce, cutting off Clint's sentence before he could go there. Bruce's face was flushed with a mixture of red and green.

"Do not make our companion angry, bird man," Thor said. "Or he might tear the hair from your head." After thinking about what the Asgardian said, Clint immediately grabbed a couch pillow and put it over his head.

Trying not to pay any attention to the banter between the three, Natasha looked over to where Tony was. "It is not necessary for us to have drinks. We have enough food for everybody, including a god and a guy having a baby," she quipped. Hearing this, Bruce took Clint's pillow without thinking and put it over his face. Clint chuckled, feeling a little better.

"We can't watch a movie without drinks! You're crazy, Natty!" yelled Tony. Suddenly, the young billionaire felt a pillow smack the side of his face. "What the hell?" he screamed, turning to face an enraged widow. If this wasn't real life, Natasha's eyes would probably be glowing red.

"Don't call me Natty!"

Putting his hands up, Tony softly said "Sorry. Won't happen again."

"Hey!" Everyone spun their heads to see Steve, who was holding several boxes on his right hand-two boxes of pizza and two boxes of donuts. "If you really want a beer, you can have one later tonight at dinner. You don't need beer for every meal, okay?" Tony just sighed and didn't say anything. "Well, how about this? I'll buy you some after the movie since you're letting me stay for dinner tonight," said Steve.

"Th-thank you," Tony stuttered. Then he looked at all the food Steve was carrying. "I see you got two pizzas there. Looks like you've got a lot of donuts too. You think we'll be able to eat all of that? We've already got fried chicken, wings, fries, onion rings, chips, cookies, and a popcorn mix."

"Hm? All this? Oh, this is my food. I thought we were supposed to bring our own food for the movie," Steve said with a slightly confused face.

"And you thought I was being greedy," said Bruce, staring daggers at Thor.

"Maybe Captain Rogers is having twins," Thor said underneath his breath.

"What did you say?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," said the nervous god. "What movie shall we watch on Stark's large viewing screen?"

After putting the pizzas and donuts on the food table, Steve reached into a shopping bag he had been holding and pulled out several DVDs: _Happy Feet_ (Clint's choice), _The Fox & the Hound _(Thor's choice), _The Iron Giant_ (Tony's choice), and _Bambi_ (Steve's choice).

"So who gets to choose what we watch first?" asked Clint.

"I don't really care that much. Any one of them is okay with me. Even if they're all children's movies," said Natasha.

"Ouch! Right in the heart!" said Clint, miming a stabbing motion to his chest.

"I'm fine with watching Tony's movie first," said Bruce. Hearing that, Tony jumped onto the couch, put his arm around Bruce's shoulders and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Maybe Tony's the father," Clint mumbled.

"What was that?" Bruce asked.

"I said maybe we should start the movie now," Clint replied.

So Natasha set up _The Iron Giant_ while everyone else got comfortable on the couch. Pretty soon, everyone got settled in, starting to munch on their snacks/lunch. However, before they could even start the movie, there was a big flash of light.

"Aw hell!" said Tony.

"Hey! What's happening? I can't see a thing," Steve cried out.

"What the fu-"

"I have returned!" yelled a booming voice, cutting off Clint before he could finish what he was saying. Standing before them was the one and only Loki, laughing his ass off like a hyena.

"I have come back for my revenge!" the Frost Giant bellowed. "You!" he screamed, looking at and pointing his scepter at Bruce. Loki's scepter started to glow. Suddenly, before anyone could stop him, Tony ran in front of Bruce to protect him, getting hit by Loki's magic. Bathed in a bright light, no one could see Tony anymore. When the light faded away, Loki was gone and Tony was no where to be seen. All anyone could see was Tony's clothes in a messy pile.

"Lokiiiiii!" roared Thor. Without any warning, he took off and jumped out a window in pursuit of Loki, who presumably had gone back to Asgard.

With Thor gone, the rest of the Avengers looked around for Tony.

"Tones? Tony? Where are you?" called Bruce, mildly blushing from having called Tony a nickname only he used.

Suddenly, there was a loud whimper. It was coming from the TV room, where all the Avengers gathered to investigate. They were all looking around, still not finding their team member, when a little boy emerged from Tony's pile of clothes.

"Tony?" asked Bruce in a soft voice.

The little boy's face scrunched up and tears filled his eyes. An ear-splitting wail filled the room, causing everyone except Bruce to hold their ears tightly.

"Tony, it's okay. It's okay. We're your friends," Bruce said soothingly. "Nobody is going to hurt you. I promise."

The young Tony continued to cry. "We didn't kidnap you. Your parents dropped you off here so we could take care of you while they go on vacation," Bruce explained. "You were asleep when you got here. That's why you don't remember us."

Tony's breathing started to slow down a bit.

"O-okay," he said. "But why am I naked? And how come I'm sleeping in someone else's clothes?" he asked after looking at himself and his surroundings.

"You, uh, took off your clothes in your sleep. You were sleep-walking. And we didn't have a blanket for you. So we thought it was all right to let you sleep in those clothes," said Bruce, only slightly caught off guard by Tony's questions.

"Nice save," said Clint, quietly laughing, only to get elbowed in his side by Natasha.

"Shut up!" she whispered.

Not hearing Clint and Natasha's side conversation, little Tony raised an eyebrow. "You made me sleep in clothes because you didn't have a blanket? Aren't there any beds in this house?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"You know what?" said Bruce. "We do have a bed in this house. Why didn't I think of that before? Silly me!" he exclaimed, lightly hitting his head and feigning embarrassment.

"You're kind of weird," said Tony, tilting his head to the side. Bruce just sighed and crossed his arms. "But I like you," Tony said with a cheerful smile.

"Thanks," said Bruce, perking up and smiling at the boy. "Now why don't we get you into some clothes? Don't want you to get cold."

"Do you have any clothes that will fit me?" asked Tony.

"Good point," said Bruce. "Here's an idea. How about a nice warm bath?" Bruce asked, trying to sound excited.

"Okay, but only if it's a bubble bath," said Tony.

"All right, bubbles it is. While you take a bath, I'll go out and buy you some clothes."

Tony's face fell. "I don't know how to take a bath myself," he said.

"You don't?" asked Bruce. "How old are you?"

"I'm six," said Tony. "But that doesn't matter. My best friend, Jarvis, always gives me my baths. And he's not here, so I don't know what to do."

"His own parents never bathed him?" Clint asked, whispering.

"Shhhh. I'll explain later," Steve said.

"And why did Bruce say we didn't kidnap him? Tony was kidnapped as a child?"

"I said I'll explain later," said Steve, trying to keep his voice down.

"Okay, I'll tell you what, Tones," said Bruce. "I'll give you your bath. My good friend here, Nat, will go buy you some clothes," he said, motioning his arm towards Natasha.

"Oh, _I_ will?" Natasha asked, looking doubtful at Bruce's suggestion.

"Well, do you think Steve and Thor know what kind of clothes to buy for a modern day kid?"

"Hey!" Steve exclaimed. "That's not nice to say! I've been studying." Thor didn't say anything in protest because he knew what Bruce had said was true.

Ignoring Steve's outburst, Bruce continued on and said, "And what do you think bird man here is going to buy for him? T-shirts and shorts? More like a leather jacket and ripped jeans."

All Clint could really say to that was, "Guilty. That would be totally awesome."

"Point taken," said Natasha. "I'll get right on it." With that being said, Natasha left to go clothes shopping.

"All right, let's go take a bath," said Bruce, picking up little Tony into his arms.

"I can play with the bubbles, right?" Tony asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course you can. Why, there would be no point in having a bubble bath if you couldn't play with the bubbles," Bruce said, holding Tony tight so he wouldn't fall. At this, Tony beamed a great big smile.

Once the bubble bath was made and Tony was feeling comfortable in the warm water, Tony looked up at Bruce and asked, "What's your name, sir?"

"My name?" Bruce asked.

"You never told me what your name is," said Tony.

"You're right. I never did tell you who I am," Bruce said, smacking his head.

"My name is Bruce, Bruce Banner. It's nice to meet you," he said, shaking the boy's wet hand.

Tony smiled, saying, "It's nice to meet you too." "But how do you know my name, Bruce?" Tony asked as he gathered a lot of bubbles.

"Your parents told me," said Bruce, dipping his hands into the bubbles.

"Oh. I see," said Tony.

"Is it all right if I call you Tones?" Bruce asked.

"Sure. I like that name. It sounds cool," Tony said, trying to make a mountain of bubbles.

"Great!" said Bruce. Then, he took two handfuls of bubbles and smushed them into the sides of Tony's face. Tony then let out a playful shriek and grabbed some of his bubbles and threw them on Bruce's head. Bruce then started splashing Tony to his delight. Naturally, this caused the little boy to start splashing Bruce in the face.

While all this water play was happening, Steve and Clint were talking in the TV room. "So his parents rarely paid any attention to him and that's why Jarvis did most of the parenting stuff?" Clint asked, exasperated. "And he was kidnapped for ransom when he was just a little kid?"

"That's right," Steve said in a rather sad voice. "He told me about his childhood one night when he was drunk." Going on, he said, "I knew his father in the past. Back then, he wasn't that bad. He was a nice enough guy. I guess as time went on, he became more cold, distant, and aggressive."

Suddenly, the elevator dinged, surprising the two Avengers.

"I'm back," Natasha said flatly, holding several shopping bags full of clothes.

"Hey, Nat! What did you get? Did you bring me any candy?" Clint asked, looking through Natasha's bags.

"No," she said, taking the contents out of the bags. "I got T-shirts, shorts, long sleeved shirts, socks, shoes, _regular_ jeans, pajamas, a jacket, a sweater, a swimsuit, winter clothes, rain gear, and-"

"Did you get him some underwear?" Clint asked, smirking.

"Of course I did," Natasha said, rolling her eyes.

"Is that you, Nat?" Bruce asked. He stepped out to see.

"Bruce? Bruce, where are you going?" Tony called out.

"I'm just going to talk to my friends. I'll be right back, I promise." Bruce said. Reassuring himself that Tony was okay, he left the bathroom.

"You got clothes?" he asked.

"That is what you sent me to get," Natasha said, trying not to laugh when she saw Bruce sopping wet with water and bubbles.

"What did you get?" Bruce asked, unaware that Clint was taking pictures of him.

"I bought him clothes for every season in case this takes a while," she said, still keeping herself from giggling.

"Okay, that's good," said Bruce. "I'm going to dry myself and Tony. Then I'll pick out some clothes for him." Then he went back into the bathroom to play a little more with Tony before draining the tub. Since there were so many towels in the bathroom, he was able to dry off both himself and Tony.

"Okay. I'm going to get you some nice, fresh clothes," said Bruce. Hearing Tony whimpering, he said, "It's okay, Tones. I'll be back as soon as possible." He then went over to the TV room and picked out some clothes. He chose a long sleeved red shirt, blue jeans, yellow socks, some random underwear, and red shoes.

After putting on his new clothes in the bathroom, Tony yelled, "Wow! How did you know red and yellow are my favorite colors?"

"I didn't," said Bruce. "It was just a lucky guess."

"That's amazing!" Tony exclaimed. After putting on his clothes, Tony followed Bruce out of the bathroom. Suddenly, without any warning, Thor flew in. Tony ran and jumped into Bruce's arms, tears in his eyes.

"Scary," Tony cried. Then he buried his face into Bruce's neck and started to wail.

"What? No, no, no, no. Please don't cry, Tones. Don't cry. It's only Thor," Bruce said, rubbing Tony's back.

Understanding Tony's reaction, Thor gently lowered his hammer to the floor and backed away.

Tony continued to cry. "It's okay," Bruce said, wiping Tony's tears away and putting him back on the ground. "Thor is my friend. He won't hurt you. I promise. He's really a big kid at heart. He eats Pop Tarts and watches cartoons. He cries easily and is interested in toys. But most importantly, he loves hanging out with kids."

"Really?" Tony asked, looking up at the god. "You like cartoons?"

"Why, of course I do," Thor said. "In fact, I have plans to watch cartoons with my friends this afternoon."

"You do?" asked Tony.

"I do," said Thor. "Take a look," he said, pointing to the TV room.

Tony ran over to the TV room and then exclaimed, "Woah! That's a lot of food!"

"You can have one slice of pizza, some chips, some fries, one cookie, and one donut," said Bruce.

"Really? I can?" Tony asked.

"Of course you can," Bruce said.

"Thank you, Bruce, you're the best!" Tony said, giving Bruce a big hug.

Bruce couldn't help it, but his heart was melting from happiness. He was having a warm and fuzzy feeling inside that he had never felt before. Brushing a small tear away, he said, "You can pick the first movie. After all, you're our guest."

"Of course he lets Tony pick the movie. Typical," said Clint. "And I bet the kid will choose the same one." He then found himself being elbowed by both Natasha and Steve.

"Shut up!" they said at the same time.

"I like this one 'cause it has a big robot on it," Tony said, pointing at _The Iron Giant._

 _"_ I told you!" Clint whispered.

"We were going to start with that movie anyway, you know" said Steve.

Not listening to the others, Bruce helped Tony make a plate of food and then he settled down on the couch with Tony on his lap. Natasha started the movie, and soon, everyone made themselves comfortable as though nothing had changed.

During the movie, Tony and Thor laughed the most and the loudest. Then, when _Bambi_ rolled around, Tony cuddled close to Bruce. Almost everyone was crying- Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, and Clint. _The Fox & the Hound _made everybody weepy, even Natasha. By the time _Happy Feet_ was wrapping up, Tony had fallen asleep.

Thor had left to pursue Loki once again. Clint and Natasha had decided to go out to dinner, leaving Tony, Bruce, and Steve as the only people left in the tower.

"Tones. Tones. Time to wake up. The movie's over," said Bruce.

"I'm hungry," Tony said.

"Well, of course you're hungry. It is dinner time," said Bruce.

"What are we having?" Tony asked, still yawning.

"I don't know," said Bruce. "I'm too tired to cook tonight. Steve, can you cook?"

"I could just make us some sandwiches," Steve said. "We had a lot to eat for lunch."

"How do sandwiches sound to you, Tones?" Bruce asked.

"I like sandwiches," said Tony.

"Could you drink some milk and have some fruit or vegetables too?" Bruce asked. "We ate a lot of junk food for lunch today."

"Sure! Drinking lots of milk and eating lots of fruits and veggies makes you bigger!" Tony exclaimed with a bright smile. The little boy absolutely loved the idea of getting bigger. Bruce couldn't help but smile. Little Tony's personality was so endearing.

Once dinner had been made, everyone was having pleasant conversation with each other and enjoying their meal together. By the time it was over, Tony was still looking sleepy.

"Are you ready for bed, Tones?" Bruce asked. Nodding his head, Tony let out a big yawn.

"I guess that's a yes," Bruce said, chuckling. He then asked Steve, "Do you mind washing the dishes while I put Tony to bed?"

"Sure, no problem," Steve said.

"Okay, before we go to bed, we need to brush our teeth and put on pajamas," Bruce said, taking Tony's hand, leading him to the TV room, where all of the new clothes were. Not surprisingly, Tony picked up the red pajamas.

With pajamas in hand, Tony followed Bruce to his older self's bedroom. Turning away, Bruce gave Tony a little privacy to put on his pajamas.

"I can wait in the hallway if you want me to," Bruce said.

"No, you can stay here with me," said Tony, trying to sound calm.

Once his pajamas were on, Tony followed Bruce to the bathroom.

"We don't seem to have any children's toothpaste," Bruce said, searching the bathroom.

"That's okay. I can use the regular kind," Tony said, trying to reach the sink.

"Here you go," said Bruce, lifting Tony up and giving him a toothbrush his adult self normally used.

"Okay, time to go to bed," Bruce said, putting Tony down when he finished.

"Wait!" yelled Tony. "I have to go potty now."

"Oh, right," said Bruce. "I forgot. You have a smaller bladder than me."

Looking at the big toilet, Tony said, "I'm kind of short, you know."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bruce said, helping little Tony up onto the toilet.

Bruce then started to leave so Tony could do his business in private, when he heard a familiar whimper. He decided to stay, and started to wonder why Tony was always so nervous whenever he left his side.

After Tony was done, he followed Bruce back to the bedroom. Bruce looked over his shoulder at Tony and smiled. He couldn't stop thinking that the little boy was acting like a baby duckling following its mama.

Tony then crawled into the big bed and said "Good night."

"Good night?" Bruce asked, confused. "Don't you want me to tell you a bedtime story, Tones?"

"A story? Really?" Tony asked with a mixture of confusion and happiness in his voice.

"Of course," said Bruce. "It's normal to tell a story before bedtime."

"Oh," said Tony, with a sad look on his face. "I've never had a bedtime story before."

Bruce's stomach dropped. "No one has ever told you a bedtime story?" he asked.

Tony said, "My daddy tells Jarvis to only tuck me in bed. After that, he has to go to his room."

"Well, I'm going to tell you a story, okay?" Bruce said, thinking maybe he should go to the library to pick out some books to read tomorrow night.

"Okay," said Tony. Bruce then started wracking his brain for a good story he could remember. Finally, he settled on _The Little Engine that Could._ While Bruce told the story, Tony was listening very intently.

At the end, Tony said, "I'm glad that the little engine could do it at the end. That was a good story."

"You're still awake?" Bruce asked.

"Just a little bit," said Tony.

"I know! Maybe a song will help you go to sleep," said Bruce. "I can sing pretty well if I do say so myself."

"A song?" Tony asked, looking confused.

"Songs can sometimes make people fall asleep," Bruce explained. "Has anyone ever sang to you at bedtime?" he asked.

"I told you," Tony said. "Jarvis only tucks me in at night. He's not allowed to stay with me and sing songs or tell stories. He's only allowed to come back to my room if I'm having a bad dream or if I'm scared of monsters or the dark."

Bruce felt like he was going to be sick. Did Tony's father actually force him to sleep in the dark without a nightlight even though he knew Tony was afraid?

"Well, I'm going to sing you a song right now," Bruce said, giving Tony a kiss on the head. Judging by the tears that filled Tony's eyes, Bruce could tell that Tony had rarely been kissed by his family. He just couldn't believe how distant and unaffectionate Tony's parents really were. Well, he knew that Tony's father, Howard, was a jerk. However, he found it hard to believe that Tony's mother had been so aloof and uninvolved.

Ignoring his personal feelings, he started singing _Somewhere Over the Rainbow,_ one of his personal favorites. It worked like a charm. Tony fell asleep halfway through the song. Exhausted, Bruce got off the bed and headed towards the kitchen. However, before he left the room, he turned around and said to Tony, "Sweet dreams, little prince."

Bruce then made his way to the kitchen to check up on Steve. "He's finally asleep," said Bruce.

"That's good," Steve said. "I don't know how long it's going to take us to find Loki," he continued. "What are we going do? None of us have any experience taking care of kids."

"I'll take care of him," said Bruce.

"You're going to take care of him?" Steve asked, looking a little concerned.

"Of course," said Bruce. "After all, he is my best friend."

"All right," said Steve, seeing Bruce's pleading puppy-dog eyes. "I'll leave it up to you. Have a good night, Bruce," Steve said as he started leaving to go home.

"You have a good night too, Steve," said Bruce.

Bruce then went over to the TV room and started gathering little Tony's clothes so he could put them in Tony's room. He would have to put old Tony's clothes somewhere else.

With the day almost over and done with, Bruce wondered what kind of new adventures he will have with little Tony tomorrow.


End file.
